According to studio publicity, the performers at the dime museum are actual carnival performers, recruited from a freak show on North Main Street in Los Angeles. This is most likely an exaggeration, since the Siamese twins and tattooed lady are obvious fakes.

Born in Dresden, Harry Earles came to America at age 11 and was 23 when he appeared in The Unholy Three.

The Unholy Three was given a preview run at the Loew's Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, opening Saturday, May 30, 1925. A.W. Bowles, general manager of the West Coast Theaters wired MGM's home office, "Very happy to advise you that the world premiere of The Unholy Three [broke] all existing Saturday opening records in the history of the theatre."

Browning would recycle several elements from The Unholy Three in his 1936 film The Devil-Doll: the cross-dressing granny, stolen pearls hidden in a child's toy, and a Christmas murder.

Browning's film was remade (almost shot-for-shot) in 1930 by director Jack Conway. Lon Chaney reprised his role as Echo. It was his last film, and the only talkie he ever made.

In 1932, Browning adapted another story by Tod Robbins: "Spurs," which would reach the screen as Freaks (1932).

The Unholy Three was not the only film in which Browning used a wild animal as a deus ex machina. A deadly reptile is unleashed at the end of The Show (1927), and a wild tiger is uncaged in Where East Is East (1929). "Extra police protection" was required to maintain order when a Hartford, Connecticut theater was swarmed with ticket-buyers. The manager wired to MGM, "Never to my knowledge have I seen theatre goers so deliberate in gaining admission to see this masterpiece."

A county judge in Syracuse launched an attack on the film at a convention of the State Association of Child Welfare Boards, claiming it "was nothing less than an appeal to a child to become a thief, a play without moral or educational purpose, a debasing spectacle, purely and simply."

DELETED SCENES

When Hercules and Tweedledee rob the Arlington mansion on Christmas Eve, they awaken a three-year-old child, who tiptoes out to catch Santa in the act. "Oh Santa Claus," she exclaims, "You brought me a little bruvver!" She throws her arms around Tweedledee and begins kissing him. Mr. Arlington comes downstairs just in time to see his child being strangled by the diminutive burglar. Hercules tears a curtain from the doorway, wraps it around Arlington's head and suffocates him.

Research compiled by Bret Wood

Sources:
The MGM Story
Classics of the Silent Screen: A Pictorial Treasury by Joe Franklin
The Horror People by John Brosnan
Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning by David J. Skal & Elias Savada